i should fold that mountain of laundry in the nursery before the dog pees on it.

i should walk the dog.

i need a shower.

i need to eat something besides coffee.

i should take a vitamin.

i should take noah to the pool. or to the park. i should find a playgroup. i should not let him watch so much tv. i should teach him to wave bye-bye. all the other babies his age are waving bye-bye. if he was still in daycare he'd probably know how to wave bye-bye.

i need to get started on next week's advice column. i need to write that other article. i need to invoice that guy for that thing. i need to email that other guy about that other thing.i need to work on that outline. i need to read that book for that review that i still need to write. i need to get ahead. i need to pull myself out of this hole.

i need my other hand so i can hit the shift key.

i should get my sleeping baby off my lap. i should put him in his crib so i can get things done.

I totally know how your feeling. I have felt that myself too. Take that time. Be with your adorable son... And DO NOT feel gulity about it! The rest of that crap will still be there later. But Noah won't be little forever.

I love that you say "needs scooped". I say that too and got lots of hell from my friends when I moved away from the PA/Delaware area. I really had no idea that the stairs needed painting, not painted until I moved away :) I love it.

but then we hit this lull. at 11 months, he's not waving or clapping or saying anything except chatter.

so, no worries, noah isn't the only one not waving. but i'm not worrying about my child either, because i'm thinking he just thinks waving and clapping are far less entertaining than poking the cat in the eyeball and watching him jump across the room or pulling each and every toy out of the toybox and seeing how far he can throw them.

So, so sweet! I worked from home last year with my baby and all the nuttiness was worth it but it was so crazy at times. There were days I never showered. I worked a lot at night after both my girls were asleep. The dirty dishes can wait (diapers and litter box not so much). Thanks for sharing the beautiful photo.

There is nothing better than a stolen moment of sweetness in a mother's day. My baby is in Kindergarten and I sometimes wish she would fall asleep in my arms one last time, just so that I could know that it was the last time and be able to close that door. It is pathetic but it is who we are. (and we all know daddy's are so jealous when they hear about those moments!)

Chalk this up to another of those "No one tells you" things. Sometimes we moms just *need* to hold our babies all day.

Unfortunately, your list sounds like my house. And since I have no baby small enough to hold, I should probably check things off that list!! But I do have a bad cold and I think that is a lovely excuse for not doing anything!!

Snuggle with that delicious baby. Right now I should be cleaning out the playroom, but my six year old and toddler are playing deliriously upstairs with the new kitten, and i'm baking cookies. Because, well, I think we need cookies.

Oh, and the Diaper Genie? We use the Budget Diaper Genie, which is plastic grocery bags for a dirty diaper, and then stuffed in the garbage. There ya go. :)

A beautiful baby boy, to be sure. And it sounds like you're doing just fine. Ditch the diaper genie though. Those things are just a waste of space and not so good for the air one breathes. Easier to just pitch the wet ones and trot the others out to the outdoors bin.

hi! just started reading your site a few weeks ago (found you via zoot).

i know what you mean and how you feel. my house is upside down, i work from home and take care of my 9.5 month old. she watches too much tv at times, but that's just how it has to be every now and then.

After 3 kids, the oldest is six, THAT is why my house looks like a bomb hit it. Or it's been ransacked. My friends joke that no one would break into my house because it looks like someone has already done it. I am behind constantly, because who WOULDN't want to sit and snuggle like that instead of all the shoulds? Enjoy, Amy.

New baby fell asleep in my arms after his bottle just before bed last night. I hardly ever get to hold him all quiet and peacefull like that. I had such a hard time putting him down for the night. I just stared at him with that big dumb grin on my face! My husband was sweet, and told me I should just hold him if I wanted to.

I read your blog EVERDAY! I got it thru my friend "wipe the seat" and I am addicted! You have THE most beautiful child (outside of my 2) LOL! You are SO truly blessed. I read your labor/delivery blog the other day and thought "Hey there are other women out there like me!" You rock, girl! Keep up the AWESOME work! God bless!

Shoulda... Coulda... Woulda... But better than all of those gross responsilities that you "shoulda" done is that amazing little fella and the fact that ONLY as a work at home mom can you sit there and dream with Noah! Man, does it get better than that?

I was going to comment on Noah until I saw the meatsticks thing. It sounds dirty and delicious at the same time. I wonder if it would be too weird if I bought a jar of baby food, tequila, vodka, wine, and beer. I'm out of the latter four and "meatsticks" just seem like an appropriate appetizer.

Meatsticks (somewhat...MEATSTICKS MEATSTICKS MEATSTICKS) out of my system, damn, you have one cute kid.

You did it! You managed to capture the reason we put off so much in our lives... for those fleeting moments of pure peace. I wish I had a picture like the one you posted. I have no pictures of the brief quiet moments that I shared with any of my 3 kids. Thanks for the memory.

Ah, I make the same choice so many times. And btw, I can't smell my baby, I think because I am around him so much. My husband says he can, that he goes to work smelling of him. It makes me a little jealous. But then, it's my lap he falls asleep in.

Here I am at work, and I can right now remember the smell of my own babies heads, sleeping in my lap, KNOWING that I had a million other things to do, and not giving a damn. At that moment, that is all that matters - that very precious and fleeting moment of joy and peace and ultimate love.